Page:Robert W. Dunn - American Company Unions.djvu/65

tactics are adopted and a militant policy followed. Among those who have been successful in struggles with the company union are W. Z. Foster and other left wing trade unionists who have been willing to take a chance on a real battle with the bosses. Foster refers to one company union at the Corn Products Company, a Rockefeller concern in Illinois, that was captured by the labor unionists. Another was the Fairbanks Company, washing powder manufacturers, while still another was the Cambria Steel Company at Johnstown, where a company union was instituted in a vain attempt to keep the workers out of the strike of 1919. The Bethlehem Steel Company in 1919 also put in one of its first "plans" for this purpose. This company committee was for a time captured by the labor unions but after the steel strike had failed the company won an influence over the men it has not since lost. Others, such as H. H. Broach, vice-president of the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, who have enjoyed a wide experience in organizing work can recite examples of company unions that have been won over to the real union thru the vigorous efforts of trade unionists.

 

VII.

THE FIGHT AGAINST COMPANY UNIONISM.

By Wm. Z. Foster.

One of the most striking and significant developments of recent years in American industry, is the growth of company unionism, as part of the general movement towards class collaboration. This constitutes a marked change in the policy of American employers. The traditional policy of the militant capitalist class in practically every industry has been to crush out every form of organization among the workers. This was the "open shop" movement in its most

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